Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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Facing Pages · Branch 1723 of 3781
[On movement.] · Entry 1723
French
p. 3445Dieu. Il gouverne la mer comme un pilote gouverne un vaisseau. Il a paitri le monde comme un potier paitrit l’argile. Mais le potier peut-il paitrir un vase d’or avec de l’argile grossière?
Sans lui, il n’y auroit ni moralité ni vertu.
Tout ce qui est bonté et intelligence vient de lui. C’est son œuvre ou son influence.
Et le libre, le volontaire sont tellement de l’essence du monde moral qu’il ne peut opérer efficacement sur lui que par insinuation.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On movement.]
p. 3446God. He governs the sea as a pilot governs a ship. He has kneaded the world as a potter kneads clay. But can the potter knead a golden vessel from coarse clay?
Without him there would be neither morality nor virtue.
Everything that is goodness and intelligence comes from him. It is his work or his influence.
And the free, the voluntary, are so much of the essence of the moral world that he can act effectively upon it only by insinuation.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On movement.] · Entry 1723
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.
Historical Text and Translation
The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume I presents the entries on printed pages 32–475. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.
Rights
The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.